KANSAS CITY (AP) — The Twins’ Kyle Gibson was close to getting yanked in the first inning Tuesday night.

He wound up throwing his first career complete game instead.

The fact that it came in a 4-2 loss to the Kansas City Royals put a damper on an otherwise impressive rally. Gibson allowed his first six batters to reach before shutting down the AL Central leaders the rest of the way.

“That’s how pitching is going to go,” he said. “You’re going to give up one, two, three runs early sometimes, but you’ve got to find your rhythm, find your groove and put up zeros.”

After Eric Hosmer hit a three-run double and Kendrys Morales added an RBI double, Gibson (9-10) did exactly that. He allowed only two more hits — both by Alex Gordon — over the next seven innings.

All of that after seeing his bullpen stirring in the first.

“In a very short time we were facing a deficit,” Twins manager Paul Molitor said. “Somehow he got out of the inning and two hits the rest of the way. It was a nice job of bouncing back.”

The four runs turned out to be all Edinson Volquez (13-7) and the Kansas City bullpen needed to stop a four-game slide for the Royals. Volquez lasted seven innings in a nice bounce-back performance of his own, Wade Davis pitched a perfect eighth inning and Greg Holland tossed a flawless ninth for his 30th save.

The only runs Volquez allowed were consecutive RBI hits by Brian Dozier and Joe Mauer.

“I thought he was great,” Royals manager Ned Yost said. “His last start he was out of whack, all over the place. He was much more mechanically sound tonight.”

The streaking Twins, who began the day just 1 1/2 games back of Texas for the final AL wild card, tried to mount a comeback after the Royals took their early lead.

Byron Buxton singled with one out in the third, later scoring on Dozier’s base hit, and Mauer followed with an RBI double to make it 4-2. But using some veteran guile, Volquez managed to get Trevor Plouffe to ground out and preserve his lead.

Plouffe also grounded into inning-ending double plays in the first and sixth, as the Twins failed to get a runner to second base the rest of the night.

Kansas City was suddenly having a similarly difficult time against Gibson, who allowed six hits and walked two while throwing 101 pitches.

“This guy has arguably one of the best two-seamers in the league, and it wasn’t there in the first inning,” Yost said. “It was there in the second inning through the eighth.”

HOLIDAY SPIRIT

Royals pitcher Danny Duffy chose the postgame music in their clubhouse. First up was Frank Sinatra crooning, “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” which got a thumbs down from Volquez — “This is bad,” he said. Jose Feliciano’s “Feliz Navidad” got better reviews.

STATS AND STREAKS

The attendance was 31,384, which means the Royals need just 3,074 fans to break the franchise’s single-season record Wednesday night. They still have six home dates after that. … Hosmer has a career-best 81 RBIs. His previous high was 79 in 2013. … Gordon is 9 for 18 since returning from the disabled list. He had been out with a groin injury.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Twins: LHP Glen Perkins (back) is considering a second injection after seeing a spinal specialist in the Twin Cities, Molitor said. He last pitched Sept. 1. … RHP Phil Hughes (back) will throw a 45-pitch simulated game Wednesday.

Royals: Yost bristled when asked whether RHP Johnny Cueto was healthy after another poor start. “How many times am I going to answer this?” Yost asked. “He’s absolutely fine. … I’m not worried about Johnny. He’s completely healthy.”

UP NEXT

Twins: RHP Mike Pelfrey gave up seven runs in four innings his last start at Houston.

Royals: RHP Kris Medlen gave up seven runs in 5 2-3 innings his last start vs the White Sox.